New York Senate passes bill to tighten legal standard Harvey Weinstein used to toss rape conviction

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The New York state Senate has passed a bill to explicitly allow evidence of prior sexual offenses in sex crimes cases. It’s a move to change the legal standard Harvey Weinstein used to overturn his rape conviction. The Senate on Wednesday approved the proposal, sending the bill to the state Assembly. Lawmakers began pushing the measure weeks after the state’s high court tossed Weinstein’s conviction in a ruling that found a trial judge wrongly allowed women to testify about assault allegations that weren’t part of his criminal charges. The state does allow such evidence in limited instances but the rules are determined by legal precedent, not state law.